Under attack from the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi partners, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday clarified that his government was not taking away or snatching Mumbai’s Film City.After his interaction with Bollywood representatives, he announced, "We are working to build a world-class film city in Uttar Pradesh. Discussions have been held with all the experts in the field such as artists, directors, producers. The film city will be set up near the Yamuna Authority near Noida on more than 1,000 hectares of land near Jewar Airport. Competition is always better.’’
Adityanath, who attended the listing of Lucknow Municipal Corporation’s first ever bond on the Bombay Stock Exchange and met industry captains, taunted that shifting Film City was no commodity or an envelope that it could be taken away. He was responding to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s scathing remark that nobody could forcibly take away Film City or industries from Maharashtra to UP.
However, Yogi took a swipe at Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, asking him to think big as Film City and reiterated, “We are not taking anything anywhere. It's all open competition. It all depends on who provides the best facilities. Film City in Mumbai will remain as it is. It will continue to work. Film City in Uttar Pradesh will do its job. We are going to build a new film city in Uttar Pradesh according to the new environment, according to the new needs.’’
Yogi said, “We do not encroach on anyone's territory nor do we hinder the development of any state. We are trying to figure out how to boost India's economic situation. The work that Prime Minister Modi has started to improve the economic situation of the country, Uttar Pradesh is contributing to it.’’ He informed that during the coronavirus pandemic his state government had created more than 1.25 crore jobs for the people.
Earlier, Raut, NCP Minister Nawab Malik and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had, in separate statements, criticised Yogi for his attempts to lure away the film industry and thereby take the shine off Mumbai’s Film City.
Deshmukh had said, “Let Yogi try, the Mumbai film industry cannot go elsewhere.”
